Gardening and Gratitude in Talaud

Horja Siluluton

Batak Angkola’s Death Ceremony

The boy who wears the happu or the crown of the King of Batak Angkola is the first grandson of the deceased for whom the horja siluluton is held. The Batak Angkola proverb says, habang halihi tinggal tungko or when the eagle has flown, only the pole is left - Yudhi Wisnu.

When a member of the Batak Angkola indigenous community dies, they recite, “habang halihi, stay tukko” (the eagle flies, only the pole left). The ritual of the death of the people living in the Southern Tapanuli region has been around since Ompu Palti Raja Siregar, King of Angkola – Sipirok. The ritual was passed on to his descendants who then spread to Parau Sorat, Baringin and Sipirok Godang. At the time, the people who inhabited the Sibualbuali mountain valley still adhered to the Ha-sipelebeguon (animism) belief.

The Batak Angkola community, who was then predominantly Muslim, changed the traditional ceremony known as the

gaja lumpat to a horja siluluton (feast of misfortune) which is held when someone dies. The Batak Angkola people believe that when a person dies, their worldly task is finished.

The word siluluton means mourning. Thus, horja siluluton means activities related to misfortune, such as death, building graves, moving graves. The focus of the discussion for this piece is limited to the funeral ceremony. Traditionally, when there is death in the community, the Batak Angkola people carry out the following rituals: sounding tawak-tawak, ogung and tabuh (percussion) to inform the huta or luat residents that a relative has died. The family of the deceased then slaughters a buffalo (nabontar/longa tinuktung). It should be noted that the slaughter of a buffalo can only be carried out if the person who dies has been celebrated according to the proper adat way during their marriage.

The implementation of the siluluton custom will never be separated from the dalihan natolu kinship system. The slaughter of nabontar (buffalo) is not only a symbol that the deceased has entered the highest life goal, hasangapon, but also a sign of sadness. The buffalo’s tulan riccan (thigh meat), which is specially slaughtered in honour of the deceased, will be handed over according to the custom by the kahanggi (descendant relatives) and anak boru (wife taker) of the person who dies to the mora (wife-giver). The handover of the riccan tulan is a substitute for the word that their anak boru (who takes a wife from their family side) has died and their daughter or sister is now a widow.

This ritual begins with a family deliberation called tahi ni suhut na dialap tahi ni kahanggi ditungkoli anak boru dohot di tuai morana. After the first deliberation,

Before the corpse is brought to the cemetery, a “manariakkon” event is held, which is like an obituary reading of the history and virtues of the deceased. Manariakkon “habang halihi stay tukko” - Yudhi Wisnu;

A group of soldiers escort the deceased’s first grandson to the funeral. After the funeral, the grandson will immediately be given the same king’s name as his late oppung - Yudhi Wisnu.

the host and their relatives are obliged to invite the kings by means of sembah sirih (prayer involving betel nut) and berita sirih that informs that a traditional assembly will be held led by King Panusunan Bulung. At the customary court, King Panusunan Bulung will question the intention and purpose of the family inviting the king and asking why there are hombung and roto around the mourning house. The king also asks about the adat title of the deceased so that later it can be passed on to the first grandson of the deceased. The main requirement for carrying out this ritual is a buffalo which will be slaughtered and served to the king and his people.

Vehicle to the Upper Realm

The implementation of the siluluton traditional ritual is carried out as strictly as possible. In the horja siluluton ritual in the Batak Angkola community is the presence of hombung and roto. The respect given to someone who dies in a traditional atmosphere of sayur matua bulung is when the corpse is placed on a roto (roppan) which is a kind of table with four pillars as high as 0.50 cm.

Hombung is a coffin that covers a corpse made of wood with angkola carvings and decorated with ulos angkola, and wrapped in red, white and black cloth. While roto is a coffin made of bamboo. Hombung is not just a mere cover but also

Relatives of the deceased carry the corpse in a hombung (coffin) which is equipped with a roto (complete cover). Each roto follows a type of hombung that corresponds to the social standing of the deceased - Yudhi Wisnu.

a distinctive marker. Hombung and roto have 3 kinds of levels:

1. Roto gobak is in the same package with hombung manusun/hombung manolon,

2. Roto payung is in the same package with hombung rapotan,

3. Roto gaja lumpat is in the same package with hombung rapotan

The use of the roto is adjusted to the last status of the person who dies. Roto gobak or blanket coffins are given to ordinary people who at the end of their lives have offspring who can afford to slaughter a buffalo for their parents’ misfortune ceremony. Roto payung is given to people who come from the descendants of the kings of huta or luat who lead the village or sub-district where they live. Roto at the highest level is the roto gaja lumpat given to people from families who have slaughtered seven buffalo sfor seven successive generations from their ancestors, were elderly, all of their children have completed adat (married), who often participated in traditional ceremonies either big or small inside the village or outside the village, and those with their funeral pavilion prepared.

Like other rituals, the requirements for the horja siluluton also follow the surat tumbaga holing upacara namely buffalo and pauing rarangan duka – a yellow traditional umbrella put right in front of the funeral home and when the body is sent to the cemetery, the umbrella is used by the grandson of the king of the deceased. Other requirements for this ritual also include a sword and spear to guard the king, tuku or happu worn by the king’s grandson, a haronduk (betel container) covered with yellow cloth for betel leaves, a red and white flag erected right in front of the funeral home page which symbolises Indonesian citizenship, a traditional flag of which pole is made of bamboo that is not cut off so that the indentation of the bamboo can face the funeral home which symbolises mourning, ulos sadum Angkola or abit godang, doal (small gong), small change coins, and yellow rice.

Before the body is sent to the cemetery there is still an event called a manariakkon (speech) for the family of the deceased to hold. On that occasion, an honest reading of jujur ngolu (eulogy) by members of the dalihan natolu, local

government, religious leaders, kings, and closed with a speech by King Panusunan Bulung.

In his speech, King Panusunan Bulung (king of the local traditional territory) will explain the meaning of each of the equipment used during the rituals as well as awarding the deceased’s title to their oldest grandson. Next, King Panusunan Bulung orders the corpse lifters to come forward and backwards seven times. It is a symbol that all disputes and hurtful actions that have not been resolved during the deceased’s life can be ended.

Simultaneously, the anak boru or the party taking the wife from the deceased will spread small change coins that have been mixed with yellow rice as a symbol of replacing the debts of the deceased that have not been paid during his lifetime. King Panusunan Bulung’s speech is closed by shouting the word “Horas!” three times accompanied by hitting the doal (small gongs) as much as possible in an odd count. The corpse is then handed over to religious leaders for burial.

The traditional ceremony is resumed after the group that carries the corpse returns from the graveyard. The next ritual is the ceremony where the deceased’s eldest grandson is given their grandparent’s title. This ceremony is led by King Panusunan Bulung, accompanied by King Pangondian and other kings. This title giving ceremony marks the end of the traditional ceremony and the title is declared valid for as long as it is customary. This ritual is indeed an embodiment of the highest level of cultural value, hasangapon or good luck. Horja siluluton is held to celebrate the last life cycle (death) of the Batak Angkola people. (Andian Siregar Siagian, Youth observer of Batak Angkola Customs and Culture)

The local community participates in preparing the hombung or coffin that will carry the body of the deceased to his grave - Yudhi Wisnu.

Talaud’s panoramic scenery –Obet Semuel.

The Talaud community is a group of people who have historically and culturally inhabited a group of islands on the lips of the Pacific known as the islands in the Talaud Archipelago Regency, as the outermost island above North Sulawesi which is the home of the Republic of Indonesia, directly adjacent to the neighbouring country of the Philippines. They have been present since about 4000 BC.

Talaud in the local language is “taloda” which comes from two words: the word “talo” was the name of a person who came from Talaud, and the word “oda” was the name of his wife who came from the island of Mindanao, Philippines. The two words were combined as “taloda” and became the name of their offspring. The story also goes that the name “Talaud” came from the root word “melaude” which means far to the sea – the prefix “ta” means no, so Talaud means not far from the sea. Talaud can also come from the root word “tau” plus “led (laude)”, tau means people, led (laude) means ocean, so talaude means ocean people or samuderawan.

Talaud is often also called Porodisa. The word “porodisa” comes from the Portuguese “paradise” which means heaven, it is said that when the Portuguese came to Talaud, they were enchanted by the beauty of Talaud, but because the local people could not pronounce it well they said porodisa. There is also a theory that porodisa comes from the Talaud language itself, namely from the word porrossa and dissa. The word “porrossa” means to cut, behead, while the word “dissa” means attack so that porodisa is a word that was spoken loudly and loudly to encourage the Talaud people to move forward to attack the Portuguese who wanted to colonise Talaud.

Customs Suitable for Planting

The Talaud community’s adherence to customs and traditional leaders or other community leaders is still very strong. They believe that a violation of adat will have consequences that will be borne by them and can bring disaster in the form of illness, death, natural disaster, or failure in economic income.

Sawakka is an oral tradition of the Talaud community which is told from generation to generation by traditional leaders called Ratumbanua or inangu Wanua or Timaddu Ruangna. Oral traditions are spoken in traditional ceremonies as the culmination of a series of farming work activities after the traditional ceremonies of malintukku halele, malintukku wualanna, manimbullah sasuanna, and mallano sasuanna. Sawakka is an expression of gratitude made by those who have worked hard, experienced God’s help during their work, received the results of their hard work and in the end realized that it was all thanks to God.

The whole series of farming rituals is divided into stages, each of which is marked by a traditional ceremony.

Malintukku Halele Traditional Ceremony

The traditional ceremony of malintukku halele or lowering a machete is a traditional ceremony that is usually done when the community is about to start clearing and preparing land for planting. It can be done alone but usually done in groups (ma’ariu). The machete is a symbol of land clearing activities, so it needs to be said and prayed to be blessed by God and to avoid accidents while working.

Malintukku Wualan Traditional Ceremony

The traditional ceremony of malintukku wualan or lowering of seeds is a follow-up activity after the community has finished clearing and preparing the land for planting. The next stage is the community will plant the land with the seeds that have been prepared in advance. This traditional ceremony implies a request to the Almighty so that the seeds to be planted can grow well and ultimately produce an abundant harvest and provide prosperity.

Manimbullah Sasuanna Traditional Ceremony

The traditional ceremony of manimbullah sasuanna or fumigating / healthy plants is a traditional ceremony carried out in the process of maintaining plants so that plants can thrive and give abundant results. This ceremony is usually carried out sometime after the plants have started to grow, where people will burn something around the plants with the intention and belief that the smoke has a fertility impact on the plants that have been planted and begin to grow.

Mallano Sasuanna Traditional Ceremony

The traditional ceremony of malanno sasuanna or asking for prayers so that plants are protected from disease is a traditional ceremony carried out during the maintenance process and waiting for the harvest to arrive. Diseases can attack plants that have started to grow so that through this traditional ceremony, people ask for God’s protection so that the plants they have planted get protection and produce abundant harvests.

Celebrating Sawakka - Clartje Awulle.

Grateful Through Sawakka

After all the farming rituals are over, the sawakka or thanksgiving ceremony for the harvest is started as a thanksgiving to God over the result of the harvest. In this ritual, Ratumbanua as the traditional leader conveys a prayer of gratitude as an expression of deep gratitude because God has answered prayers ranging from land clearing, planting seeds, maintenance and harvesting and God has protected the farming community while working through health, strength, and ability. Usually, religious leaders, in this case, pastors, pastors or elders, are also allowed to offer a prayer of thanks to God. The sawakka traditional ceremony is followed by the entire community as an expression of gratitude for the entire community to God for bestowing blessings in abundance so that the atmosphere that appears is an atmosphere of joy, brotherhood, and peace. This is shown by the whole community bringing food from their respective homes (saruwenten) and gathering in a losoh (large tent) which was erected together in the field and ready to participate in traditional ceremonies.

In this traditional ceremony, a ba’aa is placed, namely a large diamond woven in the form of an asiare bird (eagle), as a symbol of prosperity that has been received through the harvest. Ratumbanua as the traditional leader will perform the ritual of cutting the ba’aa and continue with enjoying the food that has been brought down from their respective homes to be eaten together. Complementing the joy, the traditional ceremony is usually performed with a series of dances that tell the story of opening fields, planting rice, cultivating, and reaping the results as an expression of gratitude.

Talaud folk songs as a cultural identity are also sung to complete the joy in the thanksgiving ceremony. Some of Talaud’s popular folk songs are songs of praise to the region, including Lembungu Rintulu, Porodisa I’lellare’, Su’ Bowon’ Manu Darua,

Tuta Mandassa, Eh Apa Lodda Sia, Passaran’nu Indonesia, Oh Taloda Inariadi, and Tahaloang Tomdolana. The songs describe the praise and worship of the land of birth and the love of the Talaud people for the land of Talaud.

These songs tell that when they leave, the land of Talaud will always be remembered and not forgotten. This illustrates that external influences do not shake Talaud’s identity, but instead encourage the preservation of local culture. This is a manifestation of cultural resilience that must be nurtured and preserved to promote the advancement of Indonesian culture (Clartje S.E. Awulle, Donna Sampaleng, Mayske Rinny Liando: Lecturer from Minahasa)

Talaud people harmoniously celebrate Christmas and Sawakka together Clartje Awulle;

Sawakka celebration in Talaud – Clartje Awulle